There is so much about this holiday season that’s different. There are gatherings we can’t go to, traditions that are not safe in the midst of a pandemic, and constant changes all around us. When things feel different, sometimes I find myself retreating into the mindset “This will never get better. The holidays are ruined.” …
For the last five years, I have been either pregnant, nursing, or postpartum. It seemed like a significant moment when I took my last postpartum vitamin. It also felt strange that there was no celebration, no marker that happens after you have carried and nursed a baby. There is no fanfare or ritual that marks …
As a young, first-time pastor, I thought that hope was positivity. I thought that hope was faith that was put into action. I thought that hope was something that you hung up during Advent proclaiming the good news that the Messiah is coming. After years of pastoring, I’ve discovered hope is something that you hang …
This week, I tackled the challenge of cleaning the oven. After nine months at home cooking and preparing three meals a day, it was hard to tell what color our oven actually was. As I looked inside, I saw crumbs from pizza and movie nights every Friday, holiday pies and birthday cupcakes that got a …
We started Advent by creating space. Like many other Americans right now, our home is school, office, and home all combined into one. We couldn’t decorate or prepare our home for Christmas season without moving some things around. That moving around lead to a going through and sorting. We discarded broken toys, donated some toys …
Just last week, we hit the unimaginable milestone of losing 250,000 American souls to COVID-19. That’s a quarter of a million people who won’t be here for the holiday season. So many families are bearing grief. So many families who weren’t able to be with their loved on as they passed away. It hasn’t taken …
At some point in our afternoon, backyard adventures, I got a splinter in my finger. As I was washing dishes I realized that it was there and asked Sam to take a look at it. He looked and said, “That’s pretty deep, it’s going to have to come to the surface.” I looked down and …
In the afternoons, we try to spend as much time outside soaking up the sun and Vitamin D, creating pirate ships, and practicing climbing fences. This time is one of my favorite times of the day because it reminds me of the creativity and spontaneity that children just naturally carry with them. At times there …
The past few days have provided the setting for our favorite kinds of walks: puddle walks. As we walk through the neighborhood, we try to ride through every single puddle. The cyclist goes first and we watch the water ripple before the stroller takes a turn. It’s little small things like this that draw us …
Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day looking for one part of a kid’s water bottle I had taken apart to wash. Each time I washed the dishes, I looked for it in the sink, in the dish dryer, and down the disposal. Each time I came up empty handed. As I was …
